The Explorer's First Map
by Giannoulias
Summary: Caitlyn's job as the Sheriff of Piltover gets a lot more difficult when the Prodigal Explorer returns to finish an old project. Rated T for violence. On hiatus, in the process of a rework.
1. The Encounter

Caitlyn bolted down the stairs as fast as she possibly could. She was being chased by something big. It let out a feral scream that made her blood run cold. It was louder than ever before. Caitlyn glanced behind her and saw the monster, its jaws dripping saliva, about to consume her...

"Caitlyn. CAITLYN. CAITLYN!"

Caitlyn's eyes fluttered open. She'd had the same dream again.

"CAITLYN!" screamed her mother.

"Yes, Mother, I'm awake! Hold on!" shouted Caitlyn in reply. She must have gotten another call. As the one and only Sheriff of Piltover, she had a lot of responsibilities and most certainly could not afford to oversleep. A glance to the clock showed her that she had only missed her usual wake-up time by 15 minutes. She slipped into one of her many dresses and outfitted herself with her usual belts, boots, and gloves, all gifts from her mother.

After quickly running a brush through her hair, Caitlyn slid down the banister and alighted in the kitchen of her family's small home. She gave her mother a hug and kiss on the cheek before heading for the pantry.

"Yes, mother, who needs me this time?" said the sheriff offhandedly as she hunted for her favorite cereal.

"A number of citizens called in to report sightings of a shady character lurking outside their homes. Apparently he's been sneaking through back alleys, standing in corners, and writing stuff down. They were hoping you could check it out; most people are terrified they'll be robbed."

_Sigh. Of course._ She'd been hoping for something a bit less...lackluster, but as criminals lately tended to avoid Piltover altogether, it was nice to have at least some action every now and then.

"I'll be on it, mother, just as soon as I finish my Fruity-O's," said Caitlyn as she poured herself a bowl. Her mother shifted uncomfortably.

"Actually, he's been spotted this morning just down the road...I was sort of hoping you'd go track him down before he...w-well, we just don't know what's going on."

The distressed tone of her mother's voice made Caitlyn uneasy. She put down the Fruity-O's and turned to face her mother.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"It's just...you know, dear, before you undertook this little...mission of yours, this town was...different. I know you know that. But you were very young when it was at its worst. Since you grew up, you're not my little Caity creampuff anymore, and...and..." at this point, she whisked her handkerchief out of her pocket and blew her nose very loudly. Caitlyn smiled and threw her arms around her mother.

"Oh, mom, don't worry. I'm on the case! I won't let this creep get anywhere near our house." With another quick kiss on her mother's cheek, Caitlyn was off with her trusty techmaturgical hat and rifle. She moved quickly and quietly through the alleys where her mother said the lurker was spotted. Before too long, she had picked up his trail and was silently stalking him, and in no time at all, she had him in her sights.

She activated the high-tech zoom lens built into her hat so she could get a good look at him. While she would have much preferred to simply cripple him from afar with a well-placed shot to the ankle, she knew that it was probably unnecessary, since as far as the citizens could tell, he was unarmed.

What Caitlyn saw was the extremely non-threatening figure of a teenage boy hunched over a notebook. He wore a plain white shirt, a plain brown jacket, plain blue pants, and one enormous gauntlet, and his hairstyle seemed to defy gravity. She rolled her eyes and stifled a groan - she'd recognized him immediately and could hardly believe no one else had.

It was Ezreal, the former boy genius of Piltover's magic academy. The academy was a very prestigious place where only the wealthiest of families could afford to send their children - not that Ezreal's parents were exactly wanting for money. They lived in the best part of the good side of town and were well-known for being generous philanthropists while still having plenty to spare.

Caitlyn wondered what the spoiled brat was doing lurking in the slums. She hadn't known he'd already returned to his hometown after being away for so long in the Shurima Desert, and she had only heard tales of his magical prowess. But from the sounds of it, his gift with both magic and cartography combined with the praise of his admirers had made his ego quite large. She decided it would be fun to give him a little scare.

Caitlyn first unloaded her gun - she didn't want Ezreal to do anything stupid to force her to shoot him. Slowly, carefully, and of course silently, Caitlyn crept up behind him until she was less than 5 feet away. She leveled her rifle at his head, and in the most intimidating voice she could muster (which was very intimidating indeed), she called, "Freeze!"

The teen's reaction was nothing short of hilarious. He whirled around and struck what he must have thought was a threatening stance. However, Caitlyn seriously doubted Ezreal carried any real physical danger - not only was she at least 6 inches taller than him without heels, but Ezreal was known primarily for his magical gift, so why would he need to learn how to throw a punch? - so his "threatening stance" just looked like a silly boy trying to play ninja.

"Lower your weapon, you don't know what you're up against!" commanded Ezreal in an amusingly confident voice. Caitlyn snickered and shouldered her gun.

"Relax, it's not loaded. I know you. You're the grandmaster explorer who used to go to school around here. What are you doing, sneaking around scaring everyone? People think you're a robber, they had to call me in to investigate. It's dangerous for someone like you to be around here anyway - there are REAL robbers, you know." Ezreal had dropped his silly pose and was now giving Caitlyn an unnerving, unbroken stare.

"Well, due to my impressive skill in multiple fields, which you seem to have heard of, my former professors have all been begging me to come back and give lectures. But that really isn't why I came back to town; the main reason was this," stated Ezreal, holding up his notebook to show Caitlyn an impressively detailed (but unfinished) map of Piltover. It was perfectly scaled and the houses were even labeled with the names of their residents. "After I'd finished mapping everything else, it occurred to me that I had never updated the map of my precious hometown, so I've returned to finish the job."

Caitlyn didn't feel the need to express her approval, as his arrogance was already biting at the edges of her nerves. The last thing this boy needed was a compliment.

"Fascinating. Regardless, there's no need to look so shady, it's making people uncomfortable. Why not just walk like a normal person on the main streets? You could get lost back here...or worse." Ezreal had still not taken his eyes off of Caitlyn, and she was growing steadily more uncomfortable.

"How can one possibly make a map if one only sees what is presented? Sometimes you have to poke around a bit if you really want to learn. And as for the danger...trust me, I can handle myself. But anyway, I'm surprised a beautiful young lady such as yourself would even think to lecture ME about safety in this part of town. Why don't you tell me your name, gorgeous, and maybe I can walk you home?" Ezreal prompted, transitioning smoothly from a tone of annoyance to one of shameless blandishment. He took a small step closer to Caitlyn.

Caitlyn was not impressed. "I don't think so," she retorted coyly. She spun around to walk away.

"Hey, wait a minute-" Ezreal put a hand on Caitlyn's shoulder to try and stop her. Wrong move. In less than two seconds, Caitlyn pulled out her ammo, loaded her gun, cocked it, and pinned Ezreal to the wall, her gun at his throat.

"You listen to me, PUNK. My name is Caitlyn, I am the Sheriff of Piltover, and if there is one thing I do NOT tolerate in MY city, it is disturbance of the PEACE. If I see you around here EVER again, I will shoot you on sight, and I promise you, it is going to hurt. I never miss. Do I make myself clear?"

Ezreal smirked. "Crystal," he said. Caitlyn did not like his tone.

"And don't ever touch me again."


	2. Ezreal Takes a Chance

Another day, another excruciating class to sit through.

Ezreal had returned just over a month ago, and had immediately been contacted by his old instructors to come in and give lectures.

Ezreal had always hated receiving lectures when he was a child, so he seriously doubted that any students actually enjoyed his lessons. But all the female students always gave him their undivided attention. Of course, admirers or no admirers, school always was and continued to be a chore for Ezreal, so his day didn't really begin until school ended and he was free to roam the city. He had nearly the entire place mapped out; only one section on his map was blank. Unfortunately, he might be unable to fill it in for a while, since it was in downtown Piltover.

It had been exactly two weeks since his encounter with the sheriff. If there was one thing Ezreal prided himself on, it was making the impossible look easy - he would never tell a soul, but he was absolutely terrified of Caitlyn. She had successfully scared him out of the downtown area indefinitely, grinding his cartography to a halt.

And yet, he felt strangely fascinated by her as well. Almost all of his students (most of whom were actually older than him) were desperate for any excuse to talk to him ("can you tutor me?" "can I see your maps?" "you're so smart, Ezreal!" etc.), but Caitlyn seemed immune to his charms, and he couldn't help but wonder why.

Maybe she had someone else? That seemed unlikely, she surely would have mellowed out. Maybe he wasn't her type? Preposterous, he was everyone's type. Maybe she was playing hard to get? This was the solution Ezreal settled on. She must have fallen secretly in love with him, and despite her very clear threat, she was probably dying to talk to him again. He seriously doubted she would actually shoot, not if he walked down the streets in broad daylight.

So that's exactly what he did. Since Piltover had been pretty peaceful lately, he expected to find Caitlyn nowhere but her own home, so that was where he went first. He didn't have her address, but her house had to be one of the unlabeled ones left on his map - and really, he was a professional explorer. Who needed a map anyway?

-

Afternoon was Caitlyn's favorite time of the day; there was just enough sunlight, most people were still at work, and most people who weren't at work were napping. It was quiet. Good time for thinking. On this particular afternoon, Caitlyn was trying to add another device onto her already mechanically modified hat. This device would allow her to see if anything was creeping up behind her. It looked like a simple mirror on a stick, but it was, in fact, adjustable, zoomable, and unfortunately breakable.

"Caitlyn!" shouted her mother up the stairs. CRACK. Caitlyn's mirror had split in two when she jumped as she was bolting it on. She knew it wasn't her mother's fault that it had broken (it had been fragile, and perhaps this was a good call for a redesign), so she tried to hide the irritation in her voice when she called her response. "Coming!"

Too annoyed to slide down the banister, she trekked down the stairs and through the kitchen to find her mother standing at the front door.

"Yes, mother, what is-" Caitlyn's words were choked off mid-sentence as she saw exactly what it was: she had a smiling, blond-haired visitor.

"This young man says he wants a word with you, Caity," said her mother with a sly smirk. "I'll just leave you two alone." She went into the kitchen, leaving Caitlyn and Ezreal standing awkwardly in the doorway. You could cut the tension with a knife.

On Caitlyn's side, anyway. Ezreal seemed perfectly at ease. He strolled over to the armchair in the living room, plopped down, and pulled his goggles off of his head. He held them up to the light, examining them. "You look different without your...uh...hat," he said. Caitlyn folded her arms and glared at him.

After a moment, he put his goggles back on his head and caught Caitlyn's death stare. "What? I didn't say it was a bad thing."

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you never to show your face here again?"

Ezreal smirked. "I figured you must be secretly dying to see me again, no female can resist my devilish good looks for very long," he stated sanctimoniously, flashing her a smile and running a hand through his hair. Caitlyn snorted. Catching on to her mood (finally), Ezreal decided to cut to the chase. He stood up and cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you'd give me the honor of your company at the Piltover Pamplemousse this Friday."

Caitlyn was stunned. She supposed she should have seen this coming, given the boy's shameless flirting and refusal to back down, but she didn't think he could possibly be so oblivious to her feelings as to think she would accept a date. The look on Ezreal's face, however, clearly indicated that he did not expect her to say no.

"No," said Caitlyn. "Absolutely not. Why would you even ask that?"

Rather than looking hurt or disappointed, Ezreal looked simply taken aback and a bit confused. "Wait, why not?"

Caitlyn forced a laugh. She was involuntarily shaking her head. "Are you serious? What do you mean, why not? Isn't it obvious?" This only sparked more confusion.

"No, it isn't. I'm not good enough for you? Is that it? I have good looks, charm, and money, and no one has ever said no to a date with me before."

"Have you ever asked?"

This seemed to hit a nerve. "Of course I have! What kind of loser do you take me for?" Ezreal snapped defensively. "Now, you didn't answer my last question - why not?"

Caitlyn sighed. "If you really need me to spell it out for you, I can. You're self-centered, thoughtless, rude, pompous, and WAY too bold. Even if I was halfway impressed by your flattery, your intelligence, or your mapmaking skills, you negated that yourself when you shoved your 'love me, i'm attractive and rich' shtick into my face. I'm sure you must have been a pleasure to have in class at your school, what with you being bored to death by the poor instructors who were forced to teach you. Did you incessantly show them what a know-it-all you are, too? You may be good at what you do, but you are the dumbest genius I've ever met! Now please, get out of my house!" With each new statement, Caitlyn took a threatening step forward and Ezreal took a shocked step back. By the end of her speech, he was standing on her doorstep, and with her final words, she slammed the door in his face.

-

Ezreal slowly turned to leave Caitlyn's doorstep. The dumbest genius she had ever met? Why, that was positively contradictory. And what did she mean, "Have you ever asked?" Of course he had asked girls on dates before. Hadn't he?

Perhaps he had snapped into defensive mode without thinking. In fact, Ezreal couldn't remember ever meeting any girl worth asking on a date. None before had caught his eye quite like this one did. Still, there was no doubt that any girl who he cared to ask would accept.

Or was there?

Suddenly, Ezreal wasn't so sure. He decided he had better just get home so he could really think.

Unfortunately, he had been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed the two suspicious figures following him for half a block.

-

"Caity? What's wrong? I haven't heard you doing any of your usual tinkering..."

Caitlyn was sprawled on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and did not stir when her mother entered the room.

"Did that boy upset you? He seemed perfectly respectable...I know you can handle yourself just fine, but I just want you to know I'm here if you want to talk about anything or need me to...make you anything."

Caitlyn smiled and looked at her mother, who had perched on the edge of the bed. "Thanks, Mom, but I'm fine. I'm just doing a little thinking."

"Alright, Caity...well, let me know if you need anything, sweetheart. And remember I love you very much."

"I love you too, Mom."

Caitlyn was, in fact, doing a LOT of thinking. She was thinking mostly of what her mother had said earlier, about Piltover being different before Caitlyn stepped up to defend it. She knew that the event at the forefront of both of their minds was the mugging that led to Caitlyn's desire for justice: her father's mugging.

Before the incident, Caitlyn's family had been well-off, wealthy even. But as soon as the underworld discovered that no one was untouchable, all hell broke loose. Through a series of events (the details of which were unknown to Caitlyn and which didn't really interest her anyway), her father was removed from his position of power, and in mere months, the family was nearly bankrupt.

Caitlyn had barely started middle school when this happened, and all she remembered was that none of it would have happened if the police force was half-decent. Her family's wealth was taken by criminals, they were forced to move into the slums by criminals, and her mother was scared nearly to death of criminals.

Caitlyn's father was never around. She didn't blame him for this. He worked two day jobs and always came home exhausted. Her mother was desperately trying to find work, but it wasn't easy for her. When the family was wealthy, Caitlyn's mother's inventing work had been more of a hobby. There had been no need for her to really work the day job of the average resident of Piltover. Now that she needed to work, she didn't really have any skills to speak of, other than tinkering. So that's what she did: she tinkered away all day, trying to invent something she could sell. She seemed to always be constantly on the verge of a breakthrough.

Of course, since her studio was in the basement of the family's small home, that meant Caitlyn's mother used to spend a lot of time home alone in the bad part of town, and she was a very paranoid woman. Every evening, after her husband came home but before he went to bed, she would wail about her latest near-death experience. As Caitlyn grew older, she began to realize that her mother was just exaggerating, but back when she was just 12, it had seemed like a very big deal.

In Caitlyn's early life, her teachers had all commented on how very bright and observant she was. Every single one had remarked that she needed something more stimulating, but none of them foresaw her next move: she dropped out of school. Her first move after dropping out was to take up her father's rifle and hunt down the men who had first mugged her father. After her mission proved to be a dead success (pun intended), Caitlyn decided to spend the rest of her life hunting the criminals who had torn her family down.

As it turned out, this mission was also an early success, so from there she decided to go for crime in general. Her father was too busy to notice and her mother could do nothing to stop her, so she upgraded Caitlyn's wardrobe instead. The result? A peaceful Piltover. Caitlyn smiled.

But then she snapped back to reality. A thought had just occurred to her. Ezreal had walked to her house by himself, which meant that he was now walking back home, through the slums, by himself. Despite his claims that he could handle himself and the fact that he had arrived at her house unscathed, Caitlyn couldn't shake a nasty feeling that something terrible would happen to him.

As she geared up, she told herself that she was only doing this to promote peace in her city, and not because she cared what happened to Ezreal.


	3. Ezreal Gets a Little Too Cocky

Caitlyn set off down the road in the direction she presumed Ezreal had gone. Little clues along the way (he stepped in puddles and left footprints) told her she was on the right track, but suddenly she lost the trail. She stood, frustrated, looking around, and noticed an alleyway entrance just beside her.

_Great_, thought Caitlyn. _Ezreal must have taken a shortcut_. It was almost like he was intentionally making her life difficult. Still, duty called, so she sighed and ducked into the alley. Almost immediately, she was aware of a disturbance coming from just around the corner.

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time, punk: give us all your money now, or we'll just have to take it from you."

_Uh-oh_. Caitlyn cocked her gun. She pulled a hand mirror out of her pocket and used it to peer around the corner. Ezreal had been backed into a corner by two large men who appeared to be trying to rob him. Still, though this didn't look like it would end well for him, he didn't appear to be at all frightened. Perhaps his skill with magic was a force to be reckoned with after all?

At any rate, the muggers didn't appear armed, so Caitlyn decided to hang back for now. If Ezreal needed her, she felt certain she could step in before they had a chance to hurt him, and she'd really like to see his powers in action.

"Maybe you two didn't hear ME the first time," retorted Ezreal. The blue stone on his gauntlet had begun to glow. "Leave me alone, and I won't have to hurt you." At this, the two men guffawed. Clearly they didn't see him as a threat.

"Okay pretty boy, you asked for it!" sneered the one Caitlyn presumed was the leader. As the two lunged forward, her hand jumped to her gun. But suddenly, in a flash of bright yellow, Ezreal was safely behind them. A dart of magic shot from his glove and struck the leader between the shoulderblades. The man stumbled forward.

"Over here!" Ezreal taunted. As soon as the two robbers turned around, a blue crystalline bow materialized in Ezreal's left hand. He used it to fire what seemed to be a wave of pure energy at the men, knocking them down.

"Whoa...I feel...slow..." said the sidekick. Ezreal laughed.

"Get up!" snapped the leader, jumping to his feet. He lunged toward Ezreal again, but was knocked backward by a bolt of white light from the bow.

"Is that all you've got?" mocked the boy as his bow dematerialized.

This time, the sidekick jumped up. With a loud growl, he jumped toward Ezreal, who deftly darted to one side. "Too slow!" he said smugly. He turned and saw that the other robber was charging at him. Caitlyn, unsure if Ezreal could react in time, prepared to shoot, but evidently the boy's reflexes were as good as his magic skill. He blinked behind the leader and landed another bolt of energy in the man's back.

"You belong in a museum!" called Ezreal. The two muggers turned toward him angrily, but as they did, the crystalline bow materialized again. This time, it was twice as big as Ezreal. He rose up in the air, drawing back the bow, and the robbers barely had time to widen their eyes before a massive wave of energy knocked them both out cold.

Ezreal's alighted gracefully on the ground and his bow dematerialized. "You can come out now," he said.

Caitlyn composed herself and stepped out from behind the wall. "You knew I was there?"

"The whole time," Ezreal replied, smirking. "How did you like that? I told you I could handle myself."

Caitlyn sneered. "Yes, well, forgive me for trying to do my job, oh great magician."

Ezreal put up his hands defensively. "Whoa, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just letting you know it's cool for the sheriff to stand down." Caitlyn's cheeks turned red, and Ezreal smirked. "Wait a minute, that's not even why you followed me, is it? You were actually worried!"

"Preposterous!" snapped Caitlyn. Her cheeks turned even redder and she decided to change the subject. "I could have you arrested, you know. You could have killed these two!" She gestured to the two unconscious men on the ground.

Ezreal chuckled. "Unless I've seriously misjudged you, I don't think you would arrest me for self-defense. Now, I doubt you followed me here just to check up on me, so are you going to walk me home or what?"

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. "I thought you could handle yourself."

"Well, I can, of course, but I wouldn't say no to the company of such a lovely lady as yourself on my long journey home," he said with a winsome smile.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Your flattery is...flattering. But I really must be getting home, I've got work to finish. Please don't take any more shortcuts."

"For your information, I didn't. They dragged me in here. But, have it your way. I'll catch ya later." And with that, he was off. Caitlyn watched him for just a moment before heading in the opposite direction. She really did have work to finish.

-

Ezreal went straight home. He had briefly considered staying around to work on his still unfinished map, but he didn't want to cause Caitlyn any more unnecessary stress. Not when she was finally starting to warm up to him.

But "starting to warm up to him" wasn't good enough. Ezreal had that giddy feeling you get after you impress someone important to you. Although he had just met Caitlyn, she already had his attention. After all, what wasn't to like? She was intelligent, determined, intensely passionate about her city, and not afraid to stand up for herself. Of course, she was beautiful, too.

That was when it hit him.

A female as charming as Caitlyn must receive this kind of attention all the time. No wonder she didn't seem interested in Ezreal - he didn't stand out to her. He was probably just like every other guy she'd met (but much more attractive and intelligent). He never liked to think that any girl could possibly not be interested in him, but when faced with such overwhelming evidence, a logical mind like Ezreal's had to admit defeat sooner or later.

So that left just one problem: how to make himself stand out. Well, Caitlyn, being the only sheriff in town, was always very busy fighting crime and saving everyone's lives like she'd tried to save his (lucky for her, he didn't need it). It must have been nice for her to see that there was at least one person who wasn't just another helpless citizen. Maybe she'd even like his help?

Then again, a strong, independent chick like Caitlyn would probably say something like "Sorry, I work alone" if Ezreal offered to help. He had an even better idea: what if he helped without her knowing? Piltover was a big place, and one person with no magic powers couldn't possibly know everything that was going on everywhere at all times. If he helped now and rubbed it in her face told her about it later, there would be nothing she could say to stop him, since it was in the past already!

Armed with his new, brilliant, impossible-to-fail plan, Ezreal got ready to leave his home and fight some crime. It was just starting to get dark outside, so it would soon be prime time for criminals to come out and do...whatever it was criminals did. He actually wasn't too sure. Maybe tonight would be a good night to just pick up some intel, and he could actually fight the crime some other night.

He considered changing his clothes into something darker and less noticeable, but decided it wasn't necessary and that he could blend in just fine. No one had ever asked Ezreal directly, but he was sure people must wonder: if he was born into a family with so much money, why did he dress in such tattered clothing? At least, that's what it looked like from a distance, probably. but his jacket wasn't "tattered" or "frayed," it was fringed. There was a difference.

As for the jeans, well, they were his lucky pair. He had stopped growing at age 16 (unfortunately) so he had been wearing the same pair since then and just patching them up when needed. He washed them, by hand, every single day, but he would never part with them. They had gone from blue to sort of a grayish, and he'd had to sew patches on the knees and re-stitch the sides. The seam below the knee tore so often that Ezreal had decided to just replace the stitches with rivets to save on maintenance. But as long as he wore them, he'd never gotten even a scratch on him.

Something else that he HAD been asked directly a number of times was "Ezreal, why do you wear so many belts?" It was true, he did have a lot of belts. He wore 7 on just his pants. People probably thought they were just for show, but actually they were holding his pants together.

Ezreal shook his head to clear his thoughts. The last time he had distracted himself with thinking, he'd been pulled into a dark alley and nearly robbed. It was important that he focus on where he was going. He wasn't exactly sure where to look for criminals, but he decided to start by prowling the back alleys, looking for suspicious activity.

Nearly an hour later, Ezreal still hadn't found any crime to fight. _How does Caitlyn do it?_ he wondered. _Does she go by reports, or just wander around during the day, or what?_ But right when he was ready to give up for the night and just go to bed, he got lucky (if you could call it that). He heard hushed voices just ahead of him and paused to listen.

"So wait, what are we supposed to do again?"

"You idiot, the boss said not to talk about it in case anyone was listening."

"I know...I just get really confused sometimes."

"Shut up, you noobs. We're supposed to be watchin' and waitin', not talkin'. What if she hears us?"

She. That was suspicious. Ezreal heard at least 3 distinct voices, and there might even be more who had the sense to stay silent. He had no idea what this group was up to, but it didn't sound good.

"I'm tired."

"I said shut up! She should be coming out soon, and if she gets suspicious, she might call in that nosy sheriff Darkwill warned us about, and then the whole mission'll fail!"

Ezreal stifled a gasp. A slew of information had just hit him. The first thing was that if these men were under Darkwill's orders, that meant they were Noxians, and Ezreal hated those guys. The second was that they knew Caitlyn was the sheriff, and would probably do anything to keep her from finding out about whatever mission they were on.

The last thing Ezreal realized was who they were waiting for. This was the house of the family hosting a Demacian exchange student. She had been sent to Piltover for a week to study magic at the famed academy Ezreal himself had been sent to, and he remembered lecturing a class she attended just two days ago. He couldn't for the life of him remember her name, but he felt certain this must be who they were after. He'd heard enough.

"Stop right there!" called Ezreal, stepping fearlessly toward the voices.

"That must be the sheriff, get him!" said the last man who had spoken. That was unexpected. Darkwill hadn't told them who the sheriff was? However, Ezreal didn't have much more time to ponder this. Noxians were not known for their hesitation or their mercy, and before he had time to react, the Noxians' magic attacks took him down almost immediately. _So much for my lucky pants_, thought Ezreal as everything went black.


	4. Mistaken Identity

"Caitlyn! Caitlyn, where are you?!"

Caitlyn stirred. She had been trying to get some sleep. It couldn't be earlier than 10pm. She had gone to bed early and was looking forward to a nice long night's worth of sleep, something she didn't get to enjoy very often.

She heard her mother ascending the stairs. _How odd_, thought Caitlyn. Her mother usually stood at the bottom and waiting for her daughter to come down.

"Caitlyn!" said her mother, entering the bedroom. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her daughter safely in bed.

"Mother, what's the matter? Why do you sound so worried?" said Caitlyn, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. Her mother clicked on the light and she winced at the sudden brightness.

"Oh Caitlyn, thank goodness you're safe, darling. I've just heard the most terrible news. There's been a disturbance on the other side of town. Mrs. Morris was looking out her window when she said she saw a menacing group kidnapping a girl. Another witness said he overheard them say that they'd captured the sheriff! I was just so worried, I couldn't believe anyone would have taken my daughter, oh thank goodness you're alright..."

This was certainly disturbing news. "Mother, are you absolutely sure these witness accounts can be believed?"

"Yes, dear, I'm certain. Both of them can be trusted, and there were a number of other reports to confirm their stories."

Caitlyn stopped to think for a moment. If this mysterious group was overheard talking about kidnapping the sheriff, who could they have taken? Clearly they didn't have the real sheriff. Who was the girl? Who was the group?

There was only one way to find out.

"Mother, do you know where they may be headed?"

Her mother's face hardened. "I know what you're thinking, but you absolutely mustn't go. It's dark out, you don't know what these people are capable of, I can't stand to lose you!" Caitlyn didn't say anything, she just looked her mother in the eyes and waited.

Sure enough, the woman sighed. "They were last seen walking North along Fleet Street, nobody wanted to follow them, but they're probably headed for the abandoned apartment complex on Fourth Avenue...oh, do be careful, Caity..."

"You know I will, mom." Caitlyn kissed her mother on the cheek. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get dressed."

-

"Have you gotten anything out of the boy?"

"He's...still out, sir."

"'Still out'? What do you mean, 'still out'? Wake him up, then, you imbecile!"

"Um...we've tried, sir...we think we may have used too much force to apprehend him. Sir."

Ezreal did not recognize the voices. He couldn't move, and every part of his body was in pain. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, either. Come to think of it, he didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there. His eyelids felt very heavy, and he found that he could not open them.

"You fools. He weighs what, 110 pounds? 120? Did you really think it was necessary for all of you to attack him at once?"

"With all due respect, sir, you did tell us to watch out for the sheriff. We were uncertain what he was capable of, sir."

There was an awkward pause. Ezreal tried once more to open his eyes, and this time he was successful. He was sitting in a chair in a dim room. He dared not raise his head to look around - the voices were coming from behind him, and he didn't know what would happen if they discovered he was awake. He continued to eavesdrop.

"You-you-you complete and utter MORONS! This is NOT the Sheriff of Piltover!"

Another awkward pause.

"He...isn't? Sir?"

An aggravated sigh.

"Wake him up, you blithering idiot. Give him this."

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir."

Moments later, Ezreal felt a sharp pain in the side of his neck. The man had stuck him with a syringe of who knows what. He gasped and sat bolt upright, his heart rate increasing rapidly. The explorer would have jumped clear out of his seat had he not discovered that his wrists and ankles were bound to the arms and legs of the chair.

Ezreal realized with further horror that his amulet was missing from his left hand. True, it was merely a tool for channeling the potent magic he already possessed. But he was so used to it, he had nearly forgotten how to channel his powers on his own, and certainly couldn't attack two Noxians at once without it.

"Ah, coming round, are we?" said the authoritative voice, circling the chair. Ezreal looked up into the eyes of a man cloaked in green robes with gold trim. A cloth covered the lower half of the man's face. He leaned heavily on a wooden cane, and a black bird was perched upon his shoulder. The bird gazed down at Ezreal menacingly.

"Do you know who I am, boy?" said the tall figure. Ezreal opened his mouth to utter a snappy retort, but found with embarrassment that all he could manage was a choked cough. His mouth was very dry.

The man rolled his eyes, seeming to sense what the problem was. "Fetch this boy a glass of water, soldier. We need his voice working properly if we hope to...achieve anything."

"Right away, sir." Ezreal heard a door behind him open and close as the soldier exited the room.

"So then. Where were we..." the man stroked the bird on his shoulder. "Ah yes, I was introducing myself. My name is Commander Swain, and this is my dear Beatrice. Unfortunately, I am the commander of nothing but blithering idiots who call themselves members of the military, so I apologize if you are slightly uncomfortable. However-"

At that moment, the door behind Ezreal burst open. He tried to look around, but the pain in his neck was suddenly so intense that it took everything he had not to cringe in front of this...person. A man, presumed to be the soldier from before, circled the chair. He was holding a glass full of clear liquid. Ezreal stared suspiciously at the liquid, and Commander Swain sighed.

"It's water, you dimwit. Drink it."

Ezreal's eyes narrowed. He cleared his throat and croaked, "I won't accept anything from you monsters! Where am I? What do you want?"

Swain did not blink. The soldier poured the glass of water over Ezreal's head.

"You know, I had really hoped we could be somewhat civil about this whole 'interrogation' process," said Swain nonchalantly as Ezreal tried to shake the water out of his hair, "but clearly we're going to have to do things the hard way. So allow me to get right to the point: you WILL tell us of Demacia's infiltration of Noxus, and you WILL tell us the location of the papers that were stolen from us."

So that's what all this was about. Ezreal's wet hair dripped into his eyes, but he did not break eye contact with Swain. "I don't know what you're talking about, and I certainly wouldn't tell you if I did!"

Swain, glaring, gave a small wave of his hand. Before the boy knew what was happening, the Noxian soldier struck him hard on the left side of his face. Ezreal barely stopped himself from expressing his pain.

-

Caitlyn walked briskly down Fleet Street. She didn't know what was going on, but she felt certain something was amiss. Someone had been mistaken for the Sheriff of Piltover? A girl had been kidnapped? Caitlyn had no idea who would want to kidnap her, or why. Criminals hated her, of course, but they usually settled for direct attempts on her life.

The sharpshooting sheriff had never been on such a dangerous mission before: one with a hostage involved. She would have to play it safer than usual - she didn't know who these people were or what they wanted, and she certainly didn't know what they were capable of.

Before too long, Caitlyn had arrived at the abandoned building on Fourth Avenue. The rest of the street was quiet and residential. There had been a number of appeals to the city to tear down the building, as it was a bit of an eyesore in an otherwise nice place, but Piltover simply didn't have the money to do anything about it.

From the road, Caitlyn could hear absolutely nothing. The front door was nearly detached from its hinges and the lock had been torn off long ago, so the sheriff had no trouble getting into the lobby of the building. Caitlyn paused here to listen, but she still didn't hear a sound. She was beginning to think there was nothing in here after all, but what sort of detective would she be if she didn't investigate thoroughly?

It occurred to Caitlyn that that was something she and Ezreal had in common. He had told her that to really learn, it was important to look past what was presented. She was surprised the explorer was on her mind at all at a time like this. With a pang of jealousy, she pictured Ezreal curled up in bed, sleeping soundly. _That's where I should be_, Caitlyn thought resentfully. _He's so lucky he doesn't have my job._

-

"I already told you, I don't know anything," said Ezreal wearily. "I've just been here in Piltover for the past month, I haven't been to Noxus or Demacia or anything...Do I look like a Demacian spy to you?"

It had been nearly an hour, and these Noxians couldn't seem to get it through their thick skulls that no matter how hard they hit him, they weren't going to knock any new information into his head. From what he understood, though, a Demacian spy had snuck into the Noxian High Command, stolen some papers, and taken refuge in Piltover. These Noxians seemed absolutely certain that Ezreal was the one behind the infiltration, just because the real perpetrator apparently had blond hair like his.

Swain looked lost in thought. He moved toward the door, motioning for the Noxian solder to follow him, and the two exited the room. Ezreal picked up murmurs of conversation, but couldn't understand what they were saying. He thought he heard the word "lying" from the soldier...maybe it was his imagination.

Ezreal shifted in his seat but winced when he found this incredibly painful. He could feel his face swelling up and he was certain he had at least two broken ribs.

The door opened and closed behind Ezreal; someone - probably Swain - had entered the room, but did not make themselves visible. Ezreal cleared his throat. Still nothing. He could feel eyes boring into the back of his head.

"So, uh, Commander Swain..." began Ezreal. He stopped short when he heard a cold chuckle from behind him. A feminine chuckle. A chill ran up his spine.

"You know, I don't usually partake in this kind of nonsense," said a smooth female voice, "but I happen to owe Swain a bit of a favor, so I decided to assist him."

Heavy footsteps slowly circled the chair until a woman was standing directly in front of Ezreal. She was wearing a very revealing bikini-like thing, a very strange headpiece, and a magnificent black-and-gold cape that fell nearly to the floor. Ezreal wasn't sure exactly what the deal was with the lower half of the woman's outfit, but he could definitively say that she was wearing gold high-heeled shoes. She carried a silver staff that was taller than she was, and three revolving purple stones were suspended at the top of it by some magical force. The woman's eye makeup made two short lines down toward her cheekbones. She slowly looked Ezreal over, and he found it nearly impossible to look her in the eye. He swallowed nervously.

"How old are you?" she suddenly inquired.

"Uh..." that was unexpected. "Nineteen."

The woman's expression was completely unreadable. "So young," she muttered. "What is your name, boy?"

He started to formulate a brave response, but something about this woman sparked an unfamiliar and uncomfortable feeling deep inside him. Another shiver crept up his spine, and he thought that maybe it would be better to just answer her questions.

"Ezreal."

"And why are you here, Ezreal"

He wasn't sure how to answer this one. He didn't know what this woman and her staff were capable of, and he did not feel at all safe being alone with her. Suddenly, he realized what the unfamiliar feeling in his gut was: sheer terror. What if she didn't believe the truth? What if he told her what she wanted to hear, and she decided he was no longer useful? The boy took a calming breath as the woman waited patiently for his reply.

"Um...I'm...not exactly sure..." muttered Ezreal. The woman had been so still this whole time that he flinched violently when she shifted her weight slightly. She laughed.

"My, you're a jumpy one, aren't you? Although..." she trailed off, eyes traveling from the trail of dried blood down the side of his face, to what was undoubtedly the start of two black eyes. "I can hardly say I blame you. What do you mean, you aren't exactly sure? I've been told you're a Demacian spy. Is this not so?"

A slight hint of amusement in her voice told Ezreal that this woman doubted the accuracy of the information she had received. Nevertheless, her gaze was absolutely penetrating, and Ezreal still could not look her in the eyes as he answered.

"No. I'm just a citizen of Piltover. I haven't left the city in nearly a month, and I have absolutely no clue what's going on." He glanced up, but quickly looked away when he discovered the woman was staring at him. She didn't seem to have blinked since the last time he checked.

After what seemed like a very long time, the woman finally spoke. "Very well," she said decisively. "I shall inform Swain that you were simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Ezreal stared at her in disbelief. "You mean...you believe me?"

Her sinister smile made the explorer's blood run cold. "I don't need to believe you; I'd know if you were lying. Lying is, like, ninety-five percent of what I do. Although, I should warn you..." the woman added as she walked toward the door, "I'll have no part in what happens after he finds out you're no use to him..."

The woman closed the door behind her. It took Ezreal a few moments to register what she'd meant. That was when panic began to set in.


	5. Into the Lion's Den

Caitlyn crept slowly up the staircase, pausing to listen at each door on her way up. There were only four or five floors and two apartments per floor, so this wouldn't take long at all. The first two floors were completely silent, but when Caitlyn reached the third floor, she heard voices from behind the door of the second apartment, and paused to listen.

"...telling the truth."

"I see...well done, Emilia. I knew your skills would be useful."

"It's my pleasure, Jericho."

_Noxians!_ thought Caitlyn. So that's who was behind this...she still didn't know who had been captured, but from the sound of it, they were still alive. For now. She pressed her ear to the door again and listened some more.

"So Jericho, I'm simply dying to know...what is to be done with the boy now?"

"To be honest, my dear, I hadn't really decided yet. I briefly considered turning him loose..."

Boy? Him? Caitlyn had thought the witnesses said there was a girl taken captive...that was when it hit her, and despite the situation, she couldn't hold back a smirk. She supposed Ezreal could be mistaken for a girl in the dark at a distance...

_Now Caitlyn_, she scolded herself,_ this is a serious matter_. She had only heard two voices, but it was entirely possible there was a whole horde of Noxians behind this door. She supposed she could just go in with her gun blazing, but it would be so much more fun to make a nice, organized plan.

_Step one: assessment._ She pulled out her hand mirror and used it to peer under the door. Poor planning, she noted to herself. A front door should always come all the way to the ground and be well insulated. No wonder this building was abandoned..._Focus, Caitlyn_. She saw nothing. The two people from before must have moved deeper into the apartment, and now the front room was empty. She tilted her mirror to either side and checked the corners, just to be certain. All clear.

_Step two: reconnaissance._ Caitlyn briefly tried the door handle, but of course it was locked. It could never just be easy, could it? Thankfully, her gun wasn't the only weapon at her disposal. She pulled a multi-tool out of her pocket and guided one of the attachments into the lock. In moments, she heard a satisfying CLICK, indicating she had successfully picked the lock. _Poor insulation AND poor security_, thought Caitlyn. She gently pushed the door open and peered inside.

The front door opened into the dirty kitchen of the apartment. Caitlyn stepped cautiously inside. A building this old was bound to have hundreds of squeaky floorboards to give away her position, so she made sure to tread very slowly and lightly as she crossed to the doorway at the other end of the kitchen. She found herself at the end of a hallway. To her right was an open door leading to a bathroom that was even dirtier than the kitchen, and to her left the hallway extended down.

Still treading slowly and carefully, she edged along the hall. Up on her left was another open door. She slowly peeked her head around the doorway, and snapped back when she saw that it wasn't empty. Her heart raced. Swain and LeBlanc were in there having a hushed conversation, but thankfully their backs were turned to the doorway and they didn't see Caitlyn. She dashed across the doorway as fast as she could, and one more glance proved that they hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Next was a doorway on the right of the hallway (and Caitlyn hadn't encountered a single squeaky floorboard...how odd). She removed her hat before peering around the corner this time, but she saw that it was unnecessary. A modern viewing device provided a stark contrast to the dingy living room in which it was sitting, and a couch full of people was turned away from the doorway toward the device.

_If I get caught here, I'm dead_, Caitlyn realized. There were at least six or seven people watching the viewing device. She quickly dashed across this doorway, too.

The only room left to be investigated was the closed door at the end of the hall. _Please let it be unlocked,_ Caitlyn thought desperately. After a quick glance to make sure none of the Noxians had entered the hallway, the sheriff slowly tried the doorknob. Yes, it turned! She pushed open the door, stepped inside, and quickly closed it behind her. Almost immediately, there was an aggravated sigh from the center of the poorly-lit room.

"What is it now?" said a weak but familiar male voice.

_Step three: retrieval._

-

"Ezreal!" The voice from behind him had a familiar accent. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"...Caitlyn?" said Ezreal in disbelief. "How...how did you find me?"

"We can discuss that later," said Caitlyn, walking briskly around the chair, but she froze in horror when she saw his face. "Oh...my...what on Runeterra did they do to you?!"

"Uh, nothing too bad really, mostly they hit me...the infamous Commander Swain was here, he sent his bird at me a few times...it's really not as bad as it looks," he added at the distressed look on Caitlyn's face. No need to scare her. She took a cautious step forward and examined a particularly painful wound on the top of his head.

"What about this?" she asked, starting to reach out to touch it but seeming to think better of it.

Ezreal smirked in spite of himself. "Oh, that's where he hit me with his cane. Now, uh, it's fun and all playing doctor and patient, but do you mind helping me out? I seem to be a bit tied up at the moment."

"Oh...yes, of course. Forgive me." Caitlyn pulled out a multi-tool and used it to cut the ropes around his wrists and ankles. _Haven't seen that before_, thought Ezreal. _I wonder where she keeps it._

"Can you stand?"

"I think, yeah." But as soon as he stood, Ezreal regretted it dearly. The first thing he felt was excruciating pain in his chest, and it was followed moments later by a powerful wave of nausea. He doubled over and ejected a puddle of bloody vomit at Caitlyn's feet. To his embarrassment, the explorer realized he couldn't keep himself upright on his own. _Oops, she told me not to touch her_, thought Ezreal as he collapsed into Caitlyn's arms.

"I...don't feel so good..." He hadn't realized they had injured him so badly. The fact that he had been sitting down must have nullified the dizziness, weakness, and nausea, but he sure could feel it now.

"Shush, just relax," cooed Caitlyn. "I'm going to lie you down...I know I have a potion in here somewhere..."

Ezreal felt her slip something under his head as a pillow. He looked up at the girl as she rummaged through her pockets, and he realized it was her hat. For being so technologically advanced, it was surprisingly soft.

"Ah, got it!" exclaimed the girl as she pulled out a clear glass vial filled with red liquid. She uncorked the potion and held it to Ezreal's lips. It didn't have much of a scent, slightly fruity, nothing more. Not enough to provoke another wave of nausea. He drank it without question, finding with slight surprise that he trusted Caitlyn completely.

When the vial was empty, Caitlyn set it on the floor and brushed Ezreal's hair out of his eyes. "Feeling any better yet?" she inquired with a gentle smile.

"Uh..." _Wow, she's so beautiful. I never knew she had this...doting side to her._ "Yeah, a little." The pain had already started to fade slightly, and the nausea was almost completely gone.

"Good. In that case, get up, we've got to get out of here. I don't know how you managed to get yourself kidnapped - I'm sure you were doing something dangerous and stupid - but it's time for us to get you UNkidnapped."

_Sigh. Back to her usual self. Maybe I should get injured more often._ Suddenly Ezreal remembered why he hadn't escaped on his own earlier.

"Caitlyn, did you find my amulet?" She looked stunned. _That's a no._

"They took your gauntlet?"

"Yeah...I don't know what they did with it, but we have to get it before we can leave."

Caitlyn frowned slightly. Her voice said "I guess we'd better start looking, then," but Ezreal sensed that what she meant was "If we get killed, I'm blaming you."


End file.
